Conscription

"Holy cow, this guy got the ultimate reward!" Chen Xia exclaimed as he looked at the corpse of the youngest son of a wealthy family.

A curious colleague standing nearby asked, "What reward?"

Chen Xia explained, "It's a special technique passed down by our ancestors."

"Oh~" The patrol officer nodded understandingly, then glanced at the lifeless body of the wealthy son and nodded in agreement.

"He sure rewarded himself well."

"Stop the idle chatter!" The patrol captain up ahead couldn't help but scold them, then said quietly, "Although lewd acts may drain one's vital essence, it certainly wouldn't lead to death. This seems more like the work of an evil spirit!"

"Then it's not something we should get involved in. Let's report this to Elder Mu Xieyang, the town's daoist master - this is his area of expertise." Chen Xia replied.

"Right, right." The colleague hastily nodded in agreement. As patrol officers, although they held official titles, they were unlike the garrison soldiers guarding the town and had no obligation to risk their lives.

Chen Xia still remembered the three key principles for being a patrol officer, as passed down by his seniors:

1. Collect protection fees on time.

2. Silence unappreciative shopkeepers.

3. Flee when encountering bandits.

An evil spirit was far more dangerous than bandits - they shouldn't get involved in this.

Chen Xia thought the same way. He hadn't lived long enough yet, with only one attribute point gained so far, and it was unwise to stir up conflicts.

After pondering for a moment, the patrol captain said in a low voice, "In fact, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred. Ten years ago, when I had just become a young patrol officer, a similar case happened."

Digging up memories from ten years ago, huh.

Chen Xia was a little surprised, but also felt there was no need to be too afraid if such an incident only occurred once every ten years. After all, with his growing strength over the next ten years, who's to say he wouldn't be the one doing the hammering by then?

The case was indeed too bizarre for the patrol officers to handle. They searched around the wealthy family for a few days but found no clues at all, with no evidence but an unnatural death scene.

Unwilling to pursue the investigation further, the patrol captain left them with some wise parting words:

"If it's not something you should get involved with, don't touch it again. Why not live a few more years?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xia's body shook. He felt a rush of hot air straight to his head. Words crowded his mouth but he held them back, only sighing:

"He does have a point."

Why not live a few more years?

Besides, he could only grow stronger over time.

And so the incident remained unresolved. But the old master of the wealthy family was unwilling to let it go. As the town's country squire, he finally had a young son late in life and doted on him dearly.

Now with the boy dead, and only daughters left, it meant the end of his family line.

So he spent a fortune to invite Elder Mu Xieyang, the town's daoist master, to investigate.

After this, it no longer concerned the patrol officers.

Chen Xia collected protection fees on time every month. When free, he would gather information on strange tales of cultivators, to avoid them himself.

Upholding the belief of making more friends and fewer enemies, Chen Xia did many good deeds in town. For example, Widow Wang's family was always poor, so he provided money and effort to help.

Chen Xia also often aided fallen women, helping them become brothel red cards.

Moreover, Chen Xia treated men and women equally. Not only did he help women, but also lent a hand when men were in need.

For instance, if a man's wife was committing adultery, Chen Xia would thoughtfully inform him. During the couple's fights, Chen Xia would even be at the side persuading them to stop.

Even stray dogs on the streets were brought to all-you-can-eat buffets by Chen Xia.

Naturally, Chen Xia was re-elected as an excellent patrol officer for the second year.

This was beyond his expectations.

For his second attribute point, Chen Xia added it to Strength again.

Learning from past experience, Chen Xia locked his door instead of going to the mountains and leveled up indoor.

[Level up succeeded, Strength: 2]

The voice in his mind had just faded when Chen Xia felt an unparalleled surge of power erupting from his body. It was as if his physique had been forged through thousands of hammerings, now tougher than steel and fiercer than beasts.

The entire level up process finished swiftly within a minute.

Chen Xia exhaled a breath of scorching hot air. Reaching out, he casually grabbed a vegetable knife by the blade and clenched hard.

The knife warped and twisted like rice paper under his grip, emitting a shrill cracking sound as Chen Xia kneaded it in his palm, continuously morphing its shape.

It finally became a twisted iron ball, falling to the ground with a clang as Chen Xia released it.

He now probably had the strength of nine bulls, if not more.

Chen Xia felt confident he could easily smash a wild tiger with one punch, or bludgeon a wolf pack to death.

He was very satisfied with his current pace of life.

Year three.

Imperial envoys came to town to conscript soldiers. They said the country was at war with foreign nations and lacked manpower, so they needed to mobilize troops nationwide.

The first to be called up were naturally the town's patrol officers.

As government officials with prior training, the patrols were more useful than common folk. And since they had been eating the court's salary, it was now time to repay that by risking their lives for the court.

This was common practice - in times of war, patrols would be conscripted first before drafting other peasant men.

However, there was one thing to note about conscription - lone men with no family were generally exempt.

Lone men had no attachments and nothing to lose, so they were more prone to desertion or defecting to the enemy nation without reservations.

Thus, such characters were usually not drafted.

For example, Chen Xia.

The reason given for his draft exemption was that as an excellent patrol officer for two terms, he could be excused from conscription.

This made Chen Xia feel that good deeds truly received good returns.

The rest of the married patrol officers prepared to go to battle, including the patrol captain.

Before leaving, the patrol captain approached Chen Xia with a request:

"I don't know which year I'll return from the battlefield, or if I'll even make it back - my bones may end up bleaching the battlefields. I'm not bothered for myself, but worries still linger and I can't rest easy."

"Among the patrol officers, I feel you have the best character, so I'd like to ask you to take good care of..."

"Captain, don't worry, I will definitely look after your wife well." Chen Xia quickly nodded and patted his chest in assurance.

The patrol captain froze for a moment, gazing deeply at Chen Xia, then shook his head and said: "Not my wife, but my fifteen year old daughter, Xu Zhen."

"Oh oh, a loli, I'm good with those too." Chen Xia hastily nodded.

The patrol captain didn't understand Chen Xia's words. He continued, "I've left quite a bit of money in the house, consider it living expenses for my daughter and your labor fee. Please take good care of her, don't let me down."

"Sure, sure." Chen Xia nodded.

"Mm." The patrol captain also nodded, but said no more. Hands clasped behind his back, he slowly walked away, his retreating figure blending into the sunset, exuding loneliness.

This battle may truly leave him as just bleached bones, with a lonely grave mound in his memory.

After autumn.

Chen Xia was the only patrol officer left in Tail Creek Town.